Comparing Notes II: JD

Hold tight, hold tight, we must insist that the world is what we have always taken it to be.

~TS Eliot, The Family Reunion

…Wow. I haven't seen a mask slam up that fast and thoroughly since Ezra's mom surprised him at the Saloon last May.

Ezra loved his mother, JD knew. However, her disdain for Ezra's job and "persuasive" efforts to have him join her living abroad meant that her visits heralded his reversion into a man who revealed nothing to his audience—including his friends.

After JD had called Josiah, Kid spent the subsequent half-hour dozing fitfully while JD continued working and Nathan took advantage of JD's presence to run home for a shower and a change of clothes. As a result, it meant JD was the only person present to see how, in the time it took Josiah to open the door, Kid went from a sleeping, not-quite-relaxed-but-vulnerable teenager to being wholly the untouchable thief, face like a blank sheet of paper: pale, and revealing absolutely nothing.

At least, JD amended, nothing beyond what was already obvious from his stiff posture and the way his eyes were glued to the doorway.

Josiah stepped out of the way, giving Saguru and Kid a clear view of each other—Kid stiff and immobile, pain-edged uncertainty leaking past his carelessly confident smile, and Saguru looking even worse in person than he had on the camera footage, typical fastidious presentation lost beneath wrinkled clothes, mussed hair, and dark circles standing out against pale skin.

Expression flickered across Saguru's face too swiftly for JD to read, before he crossed the room with a slow, even tread, stopping when his shoes were flush with Kid's chair.

"You…" Saguru growled, glaring down at the thief, "are the most… infuriating person I know."

Kid's false smile widened, and he answered in Japanese, "I do try. You look like hell."

"You're one to talk," Saguru retorted in the same language. "At least I have no bullet holes in my person."

JD had never been happier—barring when Chris had hired him and their first case had included the yakuza—that he'd been a massive geek and taken Japanese for his high school and college foreign language requirements, and maintained it afterward. He did feel a little bit guilty for eavesdropping on a confidential conversation, but only a little… especially since the pair of them sounded like Ezra and Vin, the last time Vin had been in the hospital.

"Occupational hazard."

JD winced internally at the flippant response. Going by the way Saguru's expression had tightened minutely, Kid wasn't doing himself any favors.

The detective braced his arms on either side of Kid's head and leaned in, looming impressively. After a long moment's silence, he spoke in low, emphatic Japanese, with none of the typical markers of polite speech. "You are not allowed to die on me, you bastard."

Kid froze, staring, all glib retorts silenced.

Off to the side, out of either teen's direct line of sight, JD saw Josiah's face split in a toothy grin of approval at the reaction. The older man didn't understand more than a few words of Japanese, but the gist of conversation carried through non-verbally well enough.

After the breathless pause, Kid finally offered, "I have no intention of doing so."

Saguru's fingers curled in the chair fabric, glare deepening. "If not for Standish-san, would I or would I not have found your corpse today?"

"…Touché," Kid murmured with a wry smile, and it wasn't entirely Kid any more as the exhausted teenager let his masks slip down a fraction and leaned back in the chair. "But some things are worth the risk, Hakuba-kun... 'Evil's triumph needs only good men to do nothing.'"

Some hidden tension in Saguru's posture relaxed infinitesimally at Kid's use of his name rather than his job description, and he let out a long, slow breath. "So long as what good men do is not ineffective. Was it what you were looking for?" Going by his tone, he didn't really expect an answer.

JD fought to keep his jaw from dropping. The guys on the forum would never believe it: They'd all been right… Of course, he couldn't tell them anyway—darn—so it became a moot point.

Kid cocked his head for a long moment, considering, before his shoulders shifted in a careful shrug. The movement was still enough for the muscles around his eyes and mouth to twitch in the faintest of winces. "I don't know. Full moon isn't until tonight."

This time, it was Saguru's turn to stare. "…Do you still have it?" he managed, re-collecting himself. "I'm sure I can afford you opportunity to check once it's dark, should you need one."

"It's either still in the pocket of my jacket, wherever that got put, or already back in the custody of the law." Kid paused for a moment to simply breathe, ribs rising and falling in quick, shallow rhythm. Then he continued in a scrupulously unconcerned tone, "If you plan to take a look, wear waterproof gloves at the very least."

Saguru gave him an appraising look, one eyebrow quirking upward. "…Are you certain you wouldn't rather do the honors? You've been looking a long time."

Kid blinked, as if he hadn't expected Saguru to make the offer, then a smile slowly crept onto his face—not the flashes of teeth he'd been giving Josiah and the rest of them all afternoon, but a small grin of genuine warmth. "Thanks."

Saguru returned the gesture with an exhausted half-smile. "With any luck, this will be the end of it."

"Don't say that. You'll jinx it. And if it's not, I'll need to keep looking."

"My apologies." Saguru hesitated, uncertainty flickering across his face for a split second, before he offered, "Would you be willing to accept assistance to search through more legal means?"

Kid's grin widened. "If you're offering, I won't say no."

"Good. Though it would be convenient if all that remained was hunting down your bloody snipers… who will no doubt assume that you're dead, provided we do nothing to contradict yesterday's conclusion."

"That's the plan," JD blurted eagerly in Japanese, unable to stay out of the conversation any longer. "Chris is getting permission to use a John Doe to confirm Kid's death, and having the case of finding the snipers assigned to our team."

Both teenagers had apparently been unaware that their audience could understand the conversation, because their heads whipped around to favor him with a matching pair of startled looks.

"…Bugger." Saguru slowly straightened back up to stand, eyes shuttered against revealing any emotion. JD half-wondered if the detective had picked up the habit from Kid, but Kid hid behind easy smiles, not the stereotypically British stiff upper lip.

JD nearly tripped over his tongue as he rushed to continue, "Sorry I didn't say anything, but I didn't want to interrupt. I won't spill anything you guys talk about unless it becomes important to our end of things, promise." He grinned, hoping to see them a little more at ease. "Theft is outside our jurisdiction, and I'm a closet Kid fan."

It seemed to work, because Saguru relaxed enough to favor JD with a faint smirk, expression softened from the smug confidence so often captured by a news camera's lens to mere amusement. "There goes my reputation."

"Hey, you only swore to catch him. You didn't say anything about not letting him go afterwards." It was a loophole Ezra would be proud of.

Saguru chuckled. "Yes, excellent point." Running a hand through his already disheveled hair, he switched back to English. "Well. Everything seems to be well in-hand here…"

JD darted a glance at Kid. The thief's sanguine exhaustion remained unchanged, even though to JD it sounded a heck of a lot like Saguru had other things to do now that he knew Kid was alive.

"Actually…" JD startled slightly at Josiah's unexpected interjection. "If you could stay, we would appreciate it. Someone needs to keep an eye on him, and the rest of us have timecards to fill, even if JD here is telecommuting for today."

"Mmm. Yes, I'm aware how much trouble he can get into unsupervised."

"Hey!" The protest was half-hearted at best, and Kid's lips still curved in a faint smile.

"The problem is," Saguru continued, "there is one thing that has to be taken care of back in Japan… Do you think I could have access to a scrambled line?"

JD's grin nearly split his face in half. "Probably, if you're doing what I think you're doing; we haven't gotten this idiot's identity yet to cover for his absence in Japan. Who do you need to call?"

He realized his phrasing a moment after he said it, and right on cue, Kid murmured, "Ghostbusters?"

"Bloody hell, who let you watch American cinema?" Saguru sputtered.

"The internet is a strange and scary place," came the grinning rejoinder, as Kid visibly suppressed a snigger.

"…Why was I concerned about you, again?"

"My sunny personality?"

JD snickered helplessly as Saguru shook his head with a sigh. "Clearly. I need to contact an acquaintance of mine, to get a message in private to certain people," he added to JD, then turned back to Kaito. "Inspector Nakamori needs to know that this is mere illusion, or there very well may be little left of him to return to."

Kid nodded, eyes suddenly old. "Do they know, or has mom been covering?"

Holy… You've known each other outside of heists? No wonder…

Saguru's lips thinned. "Your mother has been covering for you. I think Inspector Nakamori knows anyway, but he simply won't allow himself to acknowledge anything other than the lie." He paused. "And I really think you should allow me to alert Edogawa, or else he's likely to do something drastic and very unpleasant when he receives confirmation of your demise."

"Little idiot," Kid muttered under his breath, not unfondly. Louder, he continued, "Okay. This incarnation of the game is done, anyway…"

If Kid weren't so exhausted, JD doubted he would have ever seen the pang of regret that flashed briefly through the thief's expression.

So the suit really is more than just a disguise. A memento, maybe, of the first Kid from before he died…

Saguru's face echoed none of Kid's regret, but a hand dropped briefly to squeeze Kid's shoulder in distinct counterpoint to Saguru's almost feral smile. It was the kind of smile Ezra had when he spotted a poker mark. "And the hunt begins."

JD grinned. "I like you. Here…" He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket. "I keep it updated to stay as secure as modern tech can get."

"Thank you." He took the phone and turned it on, then eyed JD. "Do you mind if I take this somewhere a bit more private?"

JD nodded, and gestured accordingly as he offered, "The balcony is behind those curtains, or you can use Ezra's bedroom."

"…Balconies can be less private than one would think. Excuse me." Saguru inclined his head slightly, and headed for the bedroom.

And if you decide to take a look around for Kid's jacket while you're in there, then officially, no one will be the wiser.

Kid apparently had the same idea, going by the calculating smile lurking in his eyes. JD had gotten good at recognizing that kind of smile out of self-defense, because it was the only thing that forewarned when one of Vin's more spectacular pranks might be lurking in wait in the bullpen. Once in a lifetime was more than enough for honey in the hair or super-glued fingers the day reports were due. Thank God for two-thumbed typing.

"Well. That was educational." Josiah smiled at JD. "Enjoying yourself?"

"He certainly seems to be," Kid cut in with a hint of amusement. "Are you staying as well, Sanchez-san?"

"Sadly, no," Josiah rumbled. "I should be off to make sure that our esteemed leader hasn't stained the bureaucratic red tape even further red."

"Eheh. Good plan," JD affirmed as Kid broke off a mid-chuckle with a pained cringe. "I figure I can hold down the fort here, so when Nathan called earlier to check in I told him to take a nap."

"Good. Lord knows he probably needs it, after a night like that."

With comedian timing, Kid quipped, "I deny everything."

Josiah laughed. "I'm sure you do, son."

…For a split-second, Kid's face went horribly, utterly still, before a devil-may-care smile could reclaim its usual place. "It's a pity you can't stay, Sanchez-san. Four is best for a game of poker."

Josiah's brows furrowed slightly in kindly concern. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to bring up a painful association, Kid-kun. I'm also afraid I can't afford to lose a month's wages tonight."

Kid waved a negligent hand, as if denying that the reaction had ever happened. "Some other time."

"I think being a fly on the wall for a game between you, Saguru, Ezra and Vin would be far more interesting."

"And entertaining," JD chimed in. "In a partnered game, any of you guys could probably manage table talk with just your eyebrows."

"Eyebrows can be eloquent conversationalists," Kid began with a grin, before Saguru poked his head out of the bedroom.

"Ah, JD? A Buck Wilmington on your team says he's bringing dinner by once he's off the clock, since Mr. Standish's kitchen is apparently forbidden territory. Any requests?"

JD's stomach rumbled in response. Between work and more work, he hadn't eaten since breakfast, not counting chips and a soda from the office vending machine. "Um… My regular order from the Rubio's down the street sounds great. Thanks."

"I'll relay the message." Saguru ducked back into the bedroom.

"I get no food?" Kid called after him, volume dimmed by restricted airflow. It didn't seem to make much difference, because apparently Kid had sufficient skill in ventriloquism that he could pitch his voice across the room with little apparent effort.

"I'm ordering for you," came the immediate response, prompting Kid to regard the half-closed door with a deeply suspicious look until Josiah shifted his weight.

"I should be going." Josiah smiled at Kid. "It's been a pleasure meeting you. Take care until I see you next."

"… And you," Kid replied. JD had a feeling Kid was echoing both of Josiah's statements together.

After Josiah left, Kid settled back in his chair. He drummed his fingers together a few times, experimentally, as his eyes drifted between the various entrances and exits, and then down to Ezra's coffee table. A deck of cards sat innocuously in the center.

"Would Standish-san mind if I borrowed his cards?"

"Nah, it's fine." JD scooped the deck up and held it within arm's reach for Kid. "Knock yourself out."

Kid took a moment to process the idiom, then broke into a wry smile and accepted the cards. "Not literally, I hope. Twice in 24 hours is more than enough."

"Um, yeah." JD resettled on the couch with his laptop and dove back into lists of names and numbers, while also keeping half an ear on the murmur of Saguru's voice in the next room. He couldn't make out the words, but it couldn't hurt to monitor the tone just in case of… well, anything.

In his peripheral vision, Kid slowly worked through some rudimentary cards manipulations until he seemed to be warmed up, at which point the cards began shuffling faster. Much faster.

You're working outside the office, getting dinner for free, and watching a world-class magician perform card tricks for his own entertainment.

Best. Day. Ever.

TBC.